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[00:00:00] I first met President Keoni Kauwe when I interviewed he and his wife Monica, for a cover story for LDS Living Magazine in 2020. At the time, they had not yet begun their time as president and first lady of BYU Hawaii. Five years later, they invited me to come to the campus of BYU Hawaii to speak, and while there I couldn't shake the thought.

That I wish all members of the church could visit the campus of BYU Hawaii, as well as the Polynesian Cultural Center to see the light in the students' eyes and to learn more about what makes that campus so special. So as much as I wish we could all take a Hawaiian vacation together, my hope is that today's episode will bring a small piece of Hawaii to you, president John SK Kauwe, the.

Third is the 11th President of Brigham Young University, Hawaii. Prior to assuming the presidency in July, 2020, he was a chair of the biology department and Dean of Graduate studies at BYU and Provo. He earned his bachelor's degree in molecular biology and a master's in population Genetics from BYU. He also received a PhD in Evolution, ecology, and Population Biology from Washington University in St.

Louis, where he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Alzheimer's disease, genetics. His professional focus has been on solving the genetic basis of Alzheimer's disease. President Kauwe is of Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Maori, and Northern European ancestry. He is the. Fourth, great grandson of Kali Ohno, one of the first converts to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hawaii.

President Kauwe and his wife Monica are the parents of five children.

This is All In and LDS. Living podcast where we ask the question, what does it really mean to [00:02:00] be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Morgan Pearson, and I am so honored to have President Keone Kauwe on the line with me today. President Kauwe, welcome. Uh, thank you so much. It's good to be with you.

Well, I. I'm so excited because I love President Kauwe and his family, and it has been a treat for me. I was just telling him before we started recording, it's been a treat for me to have a good excuse to go through and read all of the devotional talks that, that you've given president. It's interesting because the last time that we spoke for an interview, you were not even at BYU Hawaii yet, and so getting caught up, I, I felt like I was getting caught up on your life and also also learning things that I didn't know before, but I, I noticed in reviewing those talks that it feels like you have been really open with the students and, and obviously anyone listening in those devotional talks and you've shared things from.

Called into the YU honor code office as a student for not having shaved to recently sharing communication missteps in dating, which felt very, uh, relatable. So I wondered how have you seen that openness and vulnerability to be an effective way to get through to students and relate to the students there at BYU Hawaii?

Yeah, that's a, that's a really good question, and we. Monica and I, you know, as soon as the devotional ends we're thinking and praying and talking about what the next message is for our students and we, it's challenging. We get very self-conscious about sharing too many of our personal experiences and making it kind of maybe too much about us, but we also live on campus.

We have 2000 20-year-old neighbors. [00:04:00] Literally like right in the midst of the dormitories is where our home is. And we see, and we talk to our students every day. We, Monica and I go eat lunch in the dining hall together regularly, and we just get our food. And then we find students that have two spots open at the table and we sit down and chat.

And so we love them and we know that they love us. And when we're sitting with them in those smaller settings or just in the front yard as we are loading our car to go to the beach or whatever, um, we see how important it is for them to understand the humanity of their leaders. To feel, to identify with those that are leading them to feel comfortable with their own imperfections around their leaders.

So we're not making a special effort to be open or vulnerable with our students. We are just really adapting to what we've learned. They need to be able to trust us and learn from us. Uh, and we kind of share as much as we feel it. As much as we feel doesn't make it about us, but just makes it about teaching them.

Um, and I think, so your, your question, you know, how do we see it as an effective way to get through the students? I, I, I think that we've, we've learned through being with our students very frequently, what they need to be, to feel loved, to feel understood, to feel comfortable, and to learn from and trust their leaders.

Well, I can vouch for the fact that your house is literally right in the middle of campus. When we were doing the, we did like a little golf cart tour when we were there, and the tour guide was like, and there's President's house. And my dad was like, wow. Like that is right in the middle of everything. And so, um, you're right, you do, [00:06:00] you do see them all the time and they see you all the time.

It, I, it has to feel a little bit like living in a fishbowl. It does. It definitely does. And, and there's times, very rarely, there's times where it's like, oh, that's a lot. Right? Yeah. For the most part, it, it works really well. The students are very respectful of our space and our time, but it does give us a chance, like if I walk out the front door to throw the football with my boys, I'm gonna see 70 students in 20 minutes.

Right. And it's interesting, this just re, you know, reminded me when President Nelson, when Monica and I were asked to fulfill this role, we sat with the whole first presidency and President Nelson gave us the invitation and then he talked to us specifically Monica quite a bit and said, you know, these, the students need to look to you as an example of a Christ-centered family.

Um, and I remember saying to him something along the lines of, it's hard to remember what happened in that meeting. It was, it's kind of like deer in the headlights. But whether we thought it ourselves, maybe, I think maybe Monica and I just talked about it afterwards, is that, you know, we are so far from perfect, but we want our students to understand that we have.

Love in our family that we have joy that comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ and that we are an example of a family that tries heart. And I think that living right there with our students and knowing what's on their minds because of that, and sharing with some openness. So the experiences of our lives and the experiences in our family has really helped us connect with our students better.

Uh, and it's brought us a lot of joy and it helps us be introspective about what we need to adjust and do differently to be better parents and better spouses to each other, and, and better fulfill our [00:08:00] responsibility to be a Christ, an example of a Christ-centered family. Well, oddly enough, I think not being perfect is.

An important element of a Christ Center family. Absolutely, and, and I, I think that that's one of the things I always say about my mission is that I think one of the most unique things about being a missionary is the number of people's homes you get to. Be in number, the number of families you get to be around.

And getting that glimpse of Christ-centered families does make a huge difference. It, it gives you something to aim for, and especially for people that didn't grow up in those kind of homes. And so I, I admire you all for taking that on. There were some things, president Kauwe, as I went through devotionals that you mentioned, and some of them were slipped in so subtly that it was almost like you were not trying to draw attention to it.

But I was like, hang on a second. So the first one of those is, you said you were 16 when you started school at BYU, is that right? Uh, yeah. Yeah. And how did that happen? That's right. Do Hauser over? Yeah. Uh, so the short version of it, it was not by design. You know, my parents are both incredibly intelligent people who did not complete college and were not, you know, they weren't driving me to be some academic prodigy or anything like that, but I, I'll give you the short version.

I went to Waterford in Utah when it was funded by YCA Systems, an educational software company, and it was free. It was in Provo, Utah, and it was free. You tested in, and so I tested into the school and I went to that school for kindergarten, first and second grade. And then they started charging [00:10:00] tuition, which disqualified my family from attending Barford schools.

And I moved to a public school in Utah and I went to the first week of third grade. And. I came home and told my parents like I've, I've done everything we're gonna do for the entire year, and all my friends were in fourth grade anyway, and I don't know, there was some battery of tests that I had to do and I went through all of that, and then they let me go to fourth grade instead of third grade.

So that was one year, and then I moved back and forth between Utah and Hawaii fairly often. Throughout my kind of teenage, you know, all actually my, all the way up to my teenage years and moving back and forth. I picked up some extra credits in ninth grade in Utah that applied to my high school graduation.

And so when I got to be a junior at Molokai High School, the principal called me into the office and she said, Hey, you, there's no classes left for you to take. And we looked at your transcripts and you can graduate this year if you want. So go talk to your parents and see what you wanna do. So this was like December.

I was 15 years old and my parents said, well, we can't afford to send you to college. So apply for a bunch of scholarships and take the a CT and SAT. And if you earn enough, if you get enough money to go to college, you can go to college. And if not. You need to stay here another year and do better on your tests or something and get more scholarship money 'cause it's not gonna work.

So I took all the tests, applied to all the schools, applied to every scholarship I could find. Got in, I got to BYU, I got into BYU and a few other universities. And BYU gave me a tuition scholarship and I got a few other little scholarships and pieced together enough money to start school. So I went in and told the principal like, yeah, I'll go ahead.

I'll graduate this year. So I [00:12:00] was, you know, I just turned 16. My birthday's April 10th, so I'd just turned 16, graduated from high school, went to BYU that fall, and then I basically said. I want to go on my mission when I turned 19, which was the age, you know, the minimum age for a missionary at that point, and I had three years left.

I might as well finish. So then I went to school year round 18 to 20 credits a semester at BYU and finished that in three years. And I actually got my mission call I, I turned 19 on April 10th. I got my mission call and graduated on April 24th. So that's kind of the short version of. Wow. How school went, and that is why you are so smart.

Okay, well that is, that's good to know. Another thing is that you mentioned, and, and I don't know, hopefully this is something that you're, you're willing to talk about, but I think this is something that so many people. Go through and often in silence. You shared in a talk that it took you and Monica, three years to have your first child after getting married, and I wondered what you've learned from that experience.

Yeah. That, that is what happened. Monica and I, we decided when we got married, like, Hey, we're ready. We wanna start a family. That's why we're getting married, let's you know, and we wanted to have kids right away, and I think we just thought that. You know that that's what God wants for families and for his children, so it'll work out great.

And it didn't for a year, and then it didn't for another year and. We were living in St. Louis, Missouri, in a, in a beautiful ward, the Linde Ward. We still love it. And many young couples, I mean Washington University and St. Louis University, all the graduate programs, medical school, law school, business school just filled with young LDS [00:14:00] couples, just strong people that were, seemed like they were all having a baby every month.

And it was really tough. Uh, it was a hard, hard time for us to, to feel like that's something we desired and, and it just wasn't happening. So one thing that we learned right away, uh, is that when you leave things in God's hands and his timing, um, you often have expectations for what that means, and you're not always right and you have to be patient and take things at his time.

We ended up working hard, saving every penny we could and spending money on fertility assessments and fertility treatments, and eventually after s spending lots of money that we didn't really have to spend, we're able to get pregnant with. Monica's able to get pregnant with Cy. And we had our little boy and we were, and we were off and running.

It always, from that point on, it took us a long time to have each child longer than maybe the normal, but we were grateful that it worked out after that. So a couple things we learned from that experience, right? God's timeline, it's not always our timeline, but it is always wise, right? His, his plan for us, his timeline for us is the right one.

And it prepares us for the future that he anticipates for us, for the stewardship, the service that he has in store for us. And we experienced that with this, with this, while we were not having children of our own, which would've occupied every moment of our time and all of our attention, we spent a lot of time with some youth in the, in the Lynda Ward.

That didn't have wonderful support from their parents and sometimes didn't have parents. We spent a lot of time with them. They were in our home. All the time. Weeknights, we'd take 'em to [00:16:00] young men's and young women's activities on weekends. We'd pick 'em up on Saturday and take 'em to the Bush, Bush Memorial Wildlife area and go fishing and we would take 'em to church and bring 'em to our house after church and teach 'em to play card games and have dinner together.

And we, we really, I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional. We, we poured a lot of our. Our emotions and our pain into supporting those kids and being part of their lives. And we learned so much. We matured so much. We, we learned so much about the world and others and service that we never would've learned if we'd been blessed with a child sooner in our lives.

Um, so I, at this point, Monica and I look back at that time and we're so grateful. That our heavenly Father didn't give us what we wanted. Uh, that he, he gave us an opportunity and I feel like we used it well. I, I, I think that we used that time well and we became much deeper, better disciples of Christ, uh, and better people because of that time that we had not getting what we wanted.

So I guess that's the best answer I have for you there. Yeah. It's so interesting to me the way that things like that work where, um, like I'm thinking about the ward that we are in and we've had two babies. You know, we were, our oldest was two months old when we moved here, and so there have been things that I've have wanted to do to.

Be what I feel like would be the kind of member that I wanna be in award like this, but I just haven't had the bandwidth. And so it's interesting to hear you talking about your experience and realizing how the Lord gives. [00:18:00] Us different opportunities to grow and sometimes it's not the, the way that we may be anticipate.

Another question that I wanted to ask you based on, so this was the talk that you just gave at at BYU Hawaii and you shared something that someone suggested you and Monica do before your. One of your children's baby blessings, and I thought that that was so unique and inspired and I wondered if you could share that.

Absolutely. Uh, it's interesting, you, I'm glad you picked up on this. I believe that this little piece of advice from a dear friend, this little conversation we had probably has had a bigger impact on our marriage. And our relationship with the spirit than anything else anyone has ever taught us. It's been that significant.

Uh, so we were, I was in the Bishop Rick and we were scheduling size, baby blessing our first child and, you know, kind of figuring out what Sunday would work and when our parents could come out and that kind of thing. And, and as we were discussing the schedule of it. A friend said, oh, you know, as you're getting ready for that, you know, you should be, you should chat with Monica and talk with her and pray, you know, pray with her about what the Lord wants you to talk about in the blessing.

And he kind of said it pretty casually as if it's something I should have known or that we all should know. Everyone does that now. And I was just, it just shocked me. I, I thought, wow, I've never. Heard of that. I've never considered that. And why not? Why wouldn't everyone talk about something like that with their eternal companion and seek revelation together in preparation for a blessing or any other?

I. [00:20:00] Opportunity to exercise priesthood authority and power in your family. Right. It just kind of, it really hit me. So I went home and chatted with Monica and she was, she thought it was an amazing idea and we sat down together and we, you know, with our little baby, and we looked at him and we talked about him, and we talked about what the Lord would want.

For him and his future that was unique about him. And I just kinda wrote some things down on a note card and we prayed about it and we said, yeah, these are the things that should be on your mind as you go into this blessing. And then it's not like I studied the note card, it's just, but we prepared together prayerfully, uh, and like I said, I think it has an incredible influence on the trajectory of our family and our faith.

It created a foundation for us to understand what it meant to exercise priesthood power as a married couple, to seek revelation together as a married couple. Uh, and it just, I think I mentioned in the talk, it made us feel more unified and more powerful in seeking God's influence in our lives. Um, and so I share it.

I, it's the first time I've shared it in a devotional, but. When I have opportunities, when I'm talking to someone and their kind of, their family is headed towards an opportunity to exercise priesthood authority in some way, I, I, I try to remind them often, like, this is an opportunity for a married couple to seek revelation together and prepare together.

Uh, and I, I love it. I'm so grateful. This dear friend. I texted him actually after I shared it in the talk. I texted him and thanked him again, like, thanks for reminding me or teaching me about this way that I can work with my wife to better seek the will of the Lord and, and using his power. Well, I think that it's [00:22:00] just such an awesome thought and, and suggestion.

Um, and so I, I was grateful for it. And now that we've given people present a little bit of an idea insight into you and your family, I wanna talk a little bit about BYU Hawaii. And I, as I was preparing for this interview, I, I started to wonder how many people listening. Are familiar with the unique nature of BYU Hawaii, specifically its focus on Asia and the Pacific.

So can you tell listeners a little bit about those focus areas for the university and why that's so, so significant, especially right now? Absolutely. So BYU Hawaii is a very small university, at least in the church educational system, right? We only have, we have less than 3000 students on campus right now.

Uh, and the purpose of the university has been very clear from the beginning. Uh, president David O. McKay. Founded the university and he made it very clear that the goal was to build leaders for Asia and the Pacific. In today's world, we have a board of trustees that's headed by President Nelson. I. The president ironing and you know, president Oaks and several other members of the Corps of the 12 and other auxiliary leaders are on our board of trustees.

And the direction of BYU Hawaii is to serve the Asia, Asia, north Pacific, and Philippines areas of the church. So we're trying to bring students to BYU Hawaii who will live and lead in those areas of the church. And bless the lives of those members in, in those areas and bless the lives of those communities and, and build those countries and the kingdom of God in those country, in those countries.

Um, and yeah, so that's kind of the main that, [00:24:00] you know, the focus of the university is to prepare people to do that. I. Okay, so another thing that I wonder if people know about, I will be honest. Before I visited the PCC, the Polynesian Cultural Center for the first time a few years ago, I really did not know what to expect, but it is incredible.

I. When I'm trying to describe it to people, I say it's like an amusement park without rides, except for there is the Cando ride, which I do enjoy. But one thing that I think makes it so special is that there is this. Student involvement and, um, seeing the students, the way that they kind of run the PCC and the pride they take in representing both their culture, where they're from and their families, I just think is, it's really inspiring and, and so unique, I think, especially in that generation.

I learned more when we were in, in Hawaii. For my devotional talk, I, I learned more about the I Work program, which I didn't know the first time I went to the PCC, so I wondered if you could share a little bit about that and how it allows students to, to get an education without graduating with debt.

Absolutely. So the Polynesian Cultural Center is a spectacular experience. It's a wonderful place, and the vast majority of the employees there are BYU Hawaii students. And in fact, the Polynesian Cultural Center was founded specifically to create a venue for BYU Hawaii students to earn money to help support their education.

We just talked about the Asia, Asia, north Pacific and Philippines area of the areas of the church that we're asked to serve, uh, many of the students from those parts of the world. Can't afford it to fly to Hawaii and pay tuition and housing and [00:26:00] food and just have an education. Right. And the way federal Visas work, in order to come, a student would have to demonstrate that they have the full capacity to pay for their entire schooling on their own, or they have to demonstrate that they have sponsorship from the school to attend.

And so that's where this I Work program comes together. We have a work study model where a student participates in funding their own education by working at the Polynesian Cultural Center, or on campus at B Hawaii, and, and they work for about nine. They work for up to 19 hours a week based on federal limits and regulations.

And then a portion of their income is contributed to pay back. A portion of their tuition right to pay for a portion of their tuition. And then the church bi Hawaii donors, we support the additional costs of their tuition, their health insurance, their housing, and their food. So a student can come from those four areas of the church and work 19 hours a week at the Polynesian Cultural Center and graduate four years later with no debt.

Having worked hard to participate in funding their education, but also been blessed by the faith and consecrated living of all the members of the church and, and, and, and their, through that build a foundation to live and lead in Asia, in the Pacific and grow their communities and their families and, and the church.

It's a beautiful, beautiful model. I, I feel spoiled to lead a university. That is based on that model of creating access to education for people and also doing it in a way that encourages their confidence and their self-reliance, right, where they're working and they're contributing and they're participating in that effort.

Well, I think one [00:28:00] thing that that it creates is this very unique environment in which students are so invested in their opportunity to learn, and it's kind of like you're not gonna throw away your shot. Because this is your opportunity. And so when I was there, we were able to have lunch president with eight students, many of whom were from the Philippines, and all of whom had an interest in journalism.

And I was struck by how seriously they seemed to take their education and. So I wondered what have you observed in terms of how having this, like ownership stake in their education makes students take it more seriously? Yeah, I, I'll tell you just a brief story to, to answer that question. When I started here at B Hawaii, it was covid, everything was remote.

I asked our faculty just to each give me three words that describe our students. Just to kick it off, right, just to, in preparation for our first, my first meeting with all the faculty and put together a little word cloud, uh, and just thought it would be an interesting way to start things off. And the top three words to describe the way our faculty described our students, and think about the state of higher education around the United States.

And the top three words we're grateful, humble, and determined. And you know, the model of this university, its mission, the work study approach to helping people fund their education. It creates a recognition from our students, right? A gratitude that they are being supported by faithful consecrated members of the church all over the world.

They also recognize that the purpose of their education is to empower them. To lead and serve their families and their communities. And they recognize because there's people [00:30:00] at, you know, in their home countries that are working and praying for a chance to come to BYU Hawaii and have the same experience.

So they recognize that they have a rare opportunity, one that others desire, and one that comes with significant responsibility and stewardship. And I, I, it is just beautiful. They understand that because of this model. And then just to think about the way their faculty recognize that in them, grateful, humble, determined, uh, I, I think about wow, if, if I could have people think, describe me as grateful, humble, and determined, those are three beautiful words.

So yeah, it's a, it's an incredible model. It's an incredible university. And when you come on our campus or you visit the Polynesian Cultural Center, I. You experience interactions with students who understand that about their education and who show that in the way that they live their lives? I think, I think it's important.

President, I wouldn't, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that. I think that. You know it, you could look at this and be like, oh wow, like this is this great opportunity and it comes without sacrifice, but I don't think that that is true. I met a missionary couple that is serving there on campus who, I guess their assignment is the, the wife is a nurse who works with.

You probably know who I'm talking about. A nurse who works with women who are expecting babies, Uhhuh. 'cause they don't have the support of their families. And I just thought, what an act of faith to come somewhere where you don't really know anybody. You're, you're determined to get an education and in the meantime you want to, to fulfill your God-given ability to have children.

And so you're having children. Thousands of miles away across oceans [00:32:00] from your family. And she said there was something like 70 students that were pregnant. And so I just, I think it's important to note that while they're being given this great opportunity and working hard for it, obviously there's also big sacrifices and, and I wondered for you, like, you probably see a lot of homesickness.

Do you see a lot of home sickness? Uh, yeah. I think maybe not as much as what we would expect you would expect, but it happens for sure. Yeah, and I'll mention, I mean, we, along the lines of what you just said, I mean, many of our international students are, they're just not able to afford to travel home.

Right? Or the, or there's complexity around federal, the US policies around their visa. That it's difficult for them to go home for a break or that kind of thing. So they often will come and stay for three or four years straight to get their degree. Uh, that's a big sacrifice. I mean, how, you know, thinking about that, uh, they're considering that these students, most of them are seeking higher education in a second language.

So challenging. And do we, do we really give them enough respect to realize. That they're getting a higher education, they're getting a bachelor's degree in a second language. Many of them are their families and they are sacrificing, they're, many of them are the highest potential wage earners in their household, and they're leaving their family for years to get an education to build up their capacity.

That takes a lot of faith. It, it is a big sacrifice. You know, take your 20-year-old son or daughter who could go out and make money for the family and they're gonna leave for years. Uh, so there, there is significant sacrifice to come to BYU Hawaii to seek higher education and to have and faith to [00:34:00] believe that that education is going to allow you to serve and support your family better in the future.

Uh, it, it is a big sacrifice. So these, I mean, there's, as the, as we work with these students, yes, they're grateful, humble, and determined. Uh, they're also doing very, very difficult things. They're taking on a significant challenge and demonstrating a lot of faith, uh, and they're doing it joyfully with a desire to serve more in the future.

So speaking of joyfully, um, I just happen, we happen to be in, in Hawaii during what you all call culture night, and it's actually two nights and. The students perform representing different clubs that represent different countries, and so you have people that, some of them are from those countries and others just join the club to learn about the country and they perform a dance or song.

It is quite the, the production I was, I was amazed by, by how much work went into it. And I think though, the thing that struck me the most was I. The light in the student's eyes and the way that they got into these performances and that it was totally clean entertainment and they were, they were excited and enthusiastic about it, and I think that that is so rare.

And it reminds me of the, the story about BYU Jerusalem Center where it was like, well, what are you gonna do about the light in their eyes? And I think that it would be difficult for someone to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center or to visit BYU Hawaii and not be touched by the light in these students' eyes.

So can you tell listeners a little bit about [00:36:00] Culture Night or any other on campus events that you think are. Particularly special and U and unique. Absolutely. So, you know, other, other universities have athletics and they, that's kind of where they build their culture and gathering and enthusiasm around.

In many cases. For us, we have really two marquee events. We have Culture Night, which is in our spring, you know, March usually. And then we have Food Fest, which is in November. So Morgan, you're gonna have to make another trip out in November. I, I heard about that and I was like, I think I'm here in the wrong time of year.

Just kidding. Yeah. So they both have the same concept where the clubs, the student clubs that are often around individual countries, but not. They're not restricted that way, right? Everybody's just joins whichever club they want to. The clubs take charge and they develop for culture night, an individual performance.

That could be ancient culture, it could be contemporary culture, but it's something that showcases something that they feel is unique and fun about their country and their culture. Uh, it's usually about 20, oh, just over 20 clubs will perform over two nights. Uh, and my favorite part about this is that they do it for each other, not for anyone else.

So just a kind of a funny anecdote, we had a visitor here at the university that wanted to come to Culture night, and I said, great. It starts at 9:00 PM it'll be over around 12, 12 30. And they're like, what? What? Why is it that is so late? Like, what do you. Why would you guys do it that late? And I, and I said, yeah, I know it's way too late for me too.

It like starts at my bedtime. Uh, but guess what? They're not doing it for me and they're not doing it for you, and they're not doing it for the internet. Our students are doing this for each other. They're putting this performance on [00:38:00] so that they can teach each other their culture so that they can perform, you know, perform it for each other.

And it is really a celebration. Of cross-cultural learning and love, period. Like that's what it's for, for the students. And I love that about it. I I, I don't love being up till midnight or one o'clock in the morning for culture night. Uh, but they do and it's amazing, right? So it makes me think about President Marion g Romney when he dedicated one of our buildings early in the university's, uh, life.

He referred to Bboy Hawaii as a living laboratory and he, he said that with respect to basically how the world will find unity with all of the different diversity of culture and thought, and with all of that, right, and President McKay, he prophesied that BYU Hawaii would be an example to the world of peace of intercultural peace.

Through the gospel of Jesus Christ and Culture Night and Food Fest, which is essentially the same thing except for its street food all night that you can go by. And, uh, both of those events are opportunities for us to demonstrate to the world how you can celebrate diversity in ways that kind of enhance our love and respect for each other and the unity that we have.

And also show how the, how pa, how using the gospel of Jesus Christ as our core, as our center, makes that possible. So I, I think that's what Culture Night is about, and it is so much fun. Uh, this last one, we actually had, elder Gong came to some of Culture night, which was fantastic, and we appreciated him having that experience.

Uh. Uh, it's really fun and I would just add, you know, [00:40:00] BYU Hawaii isn't, we're not a perfect example yet of the unity that we want to create. We're taking it head on, right? We have, I would, I think arguably the most diverse campus in the United States and maybe in the world. And our goal is to preserve culture, celebrate culture, share culture.

While also being unified. And, and that's a, that's a lofty goal, right? But we're, we're making a lot of progress. And I think Culture Night is one example of how we are demonstrating to the world how you can celebrate diversity in a way that creates unity, not division. Beautifully said, and correct me if I'm wrong, president, but doesn't the money that is earned from Food Fest go word.

Culture night. Yes, that's correct. Which I also think is very cool. That's awesome. Um, I wanna come back to something that you said about the living laboratory. You are somebody that has spent a lot of time in a laboratory, so I can see how that quote would resonate particularly with you as I was. Reading your talks.

Um, I, I was thinking about how, it's interesting to me that you mentioned in multiple talks the idea of consecration, and I thought about your success at BYU as a professor and as a researcher of Alzheimer's research. And how much you and your family had to give up to come to BYU Hawaii. In addition to what you've given up in terms of a career, you've also been asked to give a lot, which I, and it, it brought me back to when I interviewed you and Monica shortly after you, you received this assignment, you.

Monica talked about how she does not enjoy public speaking, and now she's given like 10 university devotionals and has done such a beautiful job. So I wondered what have you [00:42:00] all learned personally about consecration from this experience? Yeah, I mean, just thinking about Monica, you, you mentioned that time that we, you, when you interviewed us, I remember, I think we were sitting, we were sitting on our bed.

And you were asking her questions and she was just looking at me with this look on her face. Like, what did I sign up for? I don't want anyone to know anything about me. I don't wanna say anything to any interviewer. I don't want to be in front of anybody. She just, she was mortified, right? I don't what, what is going on here?

And she is, she has. She's wonderful and her talks are so powerful and the students love her. So, you know, what did you know? I think about, I'm speaking on her behalf. What does she learn personally? She is now in a place where she loves our students so much. She's thinking about them so much that she looks forward to the chance to speak to them at devotional.

That's a big change. And, and it's a miracle to, to see her, find her voice and her desire to teach and serve and love that way. Now you mentioned kind of the, the sacrifice of walking away from much of my Alzheimer's research, which is the case. Uh, actually last year I was, I published zero research papers, uh, and as a point of personal pride, that's hard.

That's hard for me. Uh, at the peak of my career when I left BYU five years ago, I was averaging 20 peer reviewed papers a year. I was on the Alzheimer's Association Scientific Advisory Board, the Michael J. Fox Foundation Scientific Advisory Board [00:44:00] for some of their technology grants I was on. I had been part of a NIH.

Working group on Alzheimer's disease at the highest level. It, it was, I was in that world, completely immersed in that world. And now in 2024, there's zero papers that John SK Conway authored. But I'm, I'm smiling and laughing because we don't, at this stage five, almost five years into this role, we, it's very clear to us that we haven't given up anything.

Uh, that the Lord, he is delivered what King Benjamin taught, right? We'd be yet ungrateful servants, unprofitable servants. I mean, uh, he, he has delivered blessings that are far beyond anything we could have imagined. Uh, a few months ago, elder and Sister Reland visited BYU Hawaii and we had lunch with students and we had a similar conversation about sacrifice and consecration and Sister Reland.

Said to the students and to us, she said, when you're on the Lord's errand, there's no sacrifice. There's only a perceived sacrifice. And that really struck Monica and I, we talked about that all night after, you know, after the evening was over and we talked about, you know, we felt like we gave up a very comfortable life in Orum, Utah.

We had an amazing neighborhood of people. We lived close to our families who, some of whom needed our support. Uh, the Alzheimer's research has not been at the same level that it was in the past, but the blessings we feel like we've received, the experiences, the opportunities, we realized that anything that we thought was sacrifice was just that we thought it was sacrifice.

So I think that's what we've learned is really that when you're on the Lord's errand, there is no sacrifice. You, you, when you do what he asks. The blessings are far beyond anything you could possibly imagine [00:46:00] and far beyond anything you've given up. I have seen that on a very minuscule scale in my own life and, and I.

Believe wholeheartedly what you just said. I will say that I adore Monica and I wanted, I was tempted to ask you to ask her to do this with you, but then I was like, I'm not gonna put her through that. Um, so she got off the hook just this once, maybe not in the future. I wanted to ask you one more question, president, before we get to our last question.

And that is you just set your first son on a mission and your oldest daughter is taking classes at BYU Hawaii. She's kind of following in your footsteps as a young freshman in college. But what would you say are the best things parents can do to prepare their children for leaving home for the first time, whether it be for college or for a mission?

This is an awesome question and I, I wish I had a perfect answer. Uh, our kids are amazing, uh, but I'm, and sometimes I wonder if it's in spite of us and not because of us, right. Uh, but I think there's a, there's a few points I would make. So one is teach and live the gospel with exactness in your home. I mean, we, I think that, uh, that example has to be clear and as a, as a corollary to that.

I think it's important to explain why you live the gospel with exactness to the, you know, to the, to the level of maturity of the child, but help them understand it's not, we don't do this on the Sabbath. It's teach the principal. Help them understand the choices the family's making and why. Uh, I think those are, that's really been important for our kids.

And, and I think [00:48:00] another, another second point I would make is to point out the blessings of honoring covenants. Frequently teach and point out when you feel the spirit together, uh, and even note scenarios that you encounter in life where not living the gospel of Jesus Christ or not honoring your covenants leads to.

Short or long term undesirable outcomes is just teach. As those opportunities arise, point them out and teach them. And then I think the third point I would make is to love your children enough to have hard conversations about when they need to change, to have the lives and success they desire in the future.

Like I think it can be really tough, and I see this in many of our. Our current students, right? They just haven't had enough people in their lives love them enough to say that habit isn't gonna lead where you want it, or you can't behave that way, or you can't talk to people that way. It's not gonna lead to the long-term outcomes you desire.

So I feel like those are three key points. That we've tried to do in our home that I think have really blessed our kids' lives. And, you know, I think everyone, many people go through on their missions a few months or weeks in where they suddenly realized that their parents were pretty good and did teach them some good things.

And, and s has done that. S has reached out shortly after he, he was in the Auckland MTC for, you know, the three weeks I believe. And he reached out about two weeks in and was like, you know. The experiences we had in our family, the things you taught me about, the hard conversations we had, it's, it's prepared me better for what I'm doing.

And I see why it was important and I, I see why you, why you had those conversations with me and, uh, I think it's really, really valuable. I, I would want to qualify all of this. [00:50:00] I'm sorry, I'm talking way too long. No, you're great. You're. I, I have a dear, a, a family that I'm very close friends with. This is just a qualifier and you may or may not use this, but I'm just prompted to share it.

Uh, and they have several children and I grew up in their home quite a bit, and they're amazing people, amazing parents and their children have really struggled in a lot of ways. And not just from a faith perspective, like any secular assessment would say. They've gone through some really hard things with their kids, and I remember talking with the, the father of that family shortly after something really tragic had happened with one of their adult children.

And he had so much, he felt like it was his fault and he didn't do what he should have done. He should have done more. He should have, what did I do wrong? And, and I, again, I grew up in their home quite a bit and I said, I had, I had to tell 'em, I'm like, look, I was in your home. I'm a better person because of the parent.

I'm a better parent because of what I saw you do. Uh, you can't do this to yourself. Like, I, so I think it's, it's dangerous sometimes as parents, we take so much blame or, or so much credit for our kids and, and we also need to pay attention to the fact that like, we do need to do this teaching. We need to love enough to have hard conversations, but we also need to, as our chi children get older, we need to step back and understand that.

They're making some of their own choices and that we can't take all the credit or all the blame for how things turn out. We just have to love them and know that we did our best to teach them through our example. Um, so again, you [00:52:00] may or may not use that rambling, but no, that's something that's really important to me.

No, I think, I think that is so important. We actually just had a conversation in our home last night where I was talking about how I think. Faith is not something that is transferable, that you can teach people to have a knowledge of Jesus Christ, but having faith in Jesus Christ is something that has to be developed through one's own desire and experience.

And, and I think that's the thing that's so hard as a parent. I, I've watched it with my own parents and. You care so deeply about your kids and, and when the gospel is so important to you. You want the gospel, you want your kids to have the gospel, the blessings of the gospel in their lives. But I think to your point, you, you do the best you can and then recognize that adult children especially have agency and, and I think that is, that's an important qualifier to include.

So I'm glad that you said that. Yeah. Do you have anything else to add on that? If so, yeah, I just, what you said, just think gets me back to that second point I made where it's like the way you can't teach faith, but you can encourage your children to see the fruits of faithful living. You can encourage your children to want to test the Lord, right?

To want to see if he will deliver on his promises. And that that does, that just came to my mind as you were talking. It was like, that's the important part about teaching is can you encourage your children to recognize the fruits of faith and to have a desire to test those things themselves. Yeah. To experiment upon the word I.

President, this has been such a, it's been so fun to talk to [00:54:00] you and to learn more about your experiences. My last question for you is, what does it mean to you to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Yeah, and this is one of the questions you sent ahead of time that I actually kind of thought about.

'cause I thought, wow, I don't have, I'm not sure I have a profound answer to this. Uh, I love the idea, like the first time I heard of your podcast, I, the idea of just using that phrase was so cool. I love it. Uh, and I do consider myself all in, and it, and this question makes me reflect on like, what does that mean?

And I've, I've stayed away from surfing analogies, but now you're gonna get one, so bring it on. Yeah. So yeah, I, I grew up in the ocean, but I took up surfing. When I moved back here to BYU Hawaii as present, and that's been my way of exercising and often even spending time with the students. But learning how to surf in your forties is challenging.

Uh, learning how to do anything new, athletic in your forties is challenging. You'll find that out at some point in the future. And one of the things I've learned in surfing is that. When you decide to catch a wave, and we're talking about like real steep, fast, strong waves, you have to paddle calmly and confidently and with complete commitment and to a sense of like, if you're not all in on catching that wave, it is not gonna happen, and you're never going to have the full experience of surfing a real wave.

At real speed and, and the, the exhilaration and the excitement and the joy that comes from doing that. So when I think about being all in the gospel of Jesus Christ, I think about that surfing where you know you really to, to get the full [00:56:00] benefits, the full joy of that wave, you have to be fully committed the all the way through.

And when I think about what does it mean to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ, I mean, we just talked about faith and to me it means that you have, you have committed to exercise your faith, completely trust your heavenly Father, that he will deliver on his promises and and live a life that is confident that he will always deliver.

And for me, it takes time to build up the, the courage to go all in on a wave that I, that I know is fast and steep and big. And it's, I, I believe it's the same with life and the gospel of Jesus Christ as that, just like we just referred to almost 32, right? Just over time as we exercise our faith and learn just how consistently.

Beautifully. The Lord delivers on his promises. We build up the courage to be all in and trust him in all things and know that when we live according to his teachings and according to our covenants, that we are going to have peace and joy in this life. So for me, that's what it means to be all in, is to have faith sufficient to trust him.

And trust the outcomes that he will always deliver. Well, I think that's awesome. It's the first time anybody's ever given a surfing analogy on this podcast. So I'm, I'm, I'm into it, president, thank you so much. I think that's such a cool visual, the idea of, you know, committing to the wave and, and swimming [00:58:00] confidently toward it.

And I, I will. Be thinking about that for a while. I feel like there's, there's a lot of of application there and I just, I appreciate your time more than you know. Oh, thank you. It's been, it's so much fun to see what you are doing with your career and your life and your family, and. To have had you come visit BYU Hawaii and give a beautiful devotional.

I mean, people, we, I still hear people talking about the message you shared. It was awesome. And yeah, I feel kind of, I feel I. Like it's a privilege to be able to chat with you on this on your podcast, so thanks. Thank you so much. We are so grateful to President Kauwe for joining us on today's episode.

As always, thank you to Derrick Campbell of Mix at six studios for his help with this episode, and thank you for spending time with us. We will look forward to having you again next week.